Voices  On 125^th Street    by Susan Kohn Green

It had been a long walk,

The second in the day

From Eighth Avenue to Park

On 125^th street -

And back tonight.

The dog was even willing

To go into her case

To wait for the number 10 bus

To take us home.

And she doesn’t even like her case.

I stood, peering down the avenue
For the tell -tale lights of a bus coming, 

When across the street

Out of a drugstore

Came a riotous group;                          

Laughing, shouting over each other;

Sounding tipsy -  at the least -                                    

Women? Men?  Hard to tell

By the shapeless coats

And the raucous voices                                             

Unconcerned by making heads turn,                                            

Shattering the streets with their                                                         

Voices 

They were shuffling and dancing

Halfway down the block

When

I barely had time to recognize

The Silence of mere traffic

And a honk of a car or two,

Before another sound rose,

Resonating over Eighth Avenue;

A chorus, a choir,

A harmony rising

As one fullness through the air.

The richness swelled;

Choral voices pealing

From the formal half- circle that

That raucous pack had become.

They only sang for a minute or two

Harmonies deep and rich

Sopranos blending,

Lilting, lifting,

Until it ended,

And a solitary voice called
‘Merry Christmas!” to

The Someone they had sung to; 

The Someone who had tried to

Pass through the crowd

But couldn’t find his way.

Until they sang-

And then, he didn’t want to;

Until -

The chorus was silent,

The song was done.

They broke their circle,

And became separate again,

Shouting across to each other

And laughing

Sauntering, dancing down

Frederick Douglas Boulevard

Until they turned the corner.

And I whispered,

“Thank you”

As the bus pulled up at the stop

And I hauled the dog in her case

Up the step.